The BJP, which has allied with a few smaller parties, has sought to upend the state's conventional politics, which has so far been indifferent to Hindutva politics, by taking the ruling DMK head-on for its alleged insult of Sanatan Dharma besides involvement in corruption.
However, in the event of the Bharatiya Janata Party deciding to contest, his candidate would withdraw from the race, he said.
Neither the ruling DMK nor the fractured AIADMK Opposition anticipated that an assembly by-election would put them both to test, observes N Sathiya Moorthy.
The Madras high court on Wednesday set aside an order of the previous AIADMK regime to convert late Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa's residence, 'Veda Nilayam' in Chennai as a memorial.
So who will be the chief guest at this year's parade on Rajpath (no, it ain't Central Vista yet!)? Dominic Xavier ponders over the question
Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam MP D N V Senthil Kumar on Wednesday apologised in the Lok Sabha for his controversial 'north-south divide' remark which had sparked a backlash.
The Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam on Monday said it would soon move a no-confidence motion against Tamil Nadu Assembly Speaker P Dhanapal as it accused him of "deliberately harping on his community to malign" the party.
Ace Indian off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin is now in a wave of a storm for what appeared to be criticising the government of Tamil Nadu.
Former West Bengal governor Jagdeep Dhankhar's subsequent elevation set a new benchmark for the actions of those who occupy Raj Bhavans, observes Aditi Phadnis.
Tamil Nadu Governor R N Ravi has given his assent to a bill banning online gambling which was adopted in March by the state assembly for a second time, official sources said on Monday.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi will on Thursday embark on a near two-day meditation exercise at the famed Vivekananda Rock Memorial in Kanyakumari, and the district has come under a thick security blanket following the high profile event.
A high voter turnout was recorded in West Bengal, Assam Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Puducherry assembly elections on Tuesday. The massive polling exercise following COVID-19 health protocol and involving lakhs of personnel began at 7 am and the last hour from 6 pm to 7 pm was set aside for COVID-19 patients and those under isolation. The counting of votes in the states will be held on May 2.
Campaigning ended on Wednesday evening for 102 Lok Sabha seats across 21 states and Union territories which will go to polls in the first phase on April 19 with top leaders of the Bharatiya Janata Party-led National Democratic Alliance and the opposition Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) making a last-gasp effort to woo voters.
The meeting of the newly-elected MLAs to elect the legislature party leader, the second within three days, reportedly saw exchanges on who should lead the party in the House with one section pitching for Palaniswami and the other for coordinator O Panneerselvam.
The Congress MP from Sivaganga also slammed the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam-Bharatiya Janata Party alliance and said the people of Tamil Nadu do not want a government which has any "stain, scent or shadow" of the BJP as its 'Hindi-Hindutva' agenda "irritates" them.
Given the politics behind it all, one possibility is for binding the governor to act according to the decisions of the state government and clarifying his position vis a vis bills and resolutions passed by the state assembly -- or, re-enacted if returned, points out N Sathiya Moorthy.
In yet another instance of his confrontation with the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam dispensation in Tamil Nadu, Governor R N Ravi on Monday concluded his customary address to the House within a few minutes, making certain remarks over the content of the address that were 'expunged'.
The first round of talks were described as "cordial" by Tamil Nadu Congress Committee president K V Thangkabalu, who is part of the five-member DMK panel which has Union Home Minister P Chidambaram and Tamil Nadu Deputy Chief Minister M K Stalin among other members.
He made an announcement in this regard at an election rally in Chennai on Saturday.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has "no respect" for the culture, language and people of Tamil Nadu, he alleged.
The party is looking at Amit Shah's visit to Tamil Nadu and the PM's to Sri Lanka to boost its expansions efforts in the state for the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, reports Archis Mohan.
Actor-politician Kamal Haasan on Wednesday said discussions were on for his party Makkal Needhi Maiam (MNM)'s political alliance and stressed it would support any bloc that would 'selflessly' think about the nation but desist from being part of 'feudal politics'.
The favourable apex court was a result of the 'divinity' of party stalwarts, the late Chief Ministers M G Ramachandran and J Jayalalithaa, he said at a mass wedding ceremony in Madurai.
It is not much of an issue just now, but it could become one if the idea of caste census captures socio-political imagination, going beyond electoral tags and identities, says N Sathiya Moorthy.
The Supreme Court on Monday agreed to consider a plea of the Tamil Nadu government against the refusal of Governor RN Ravi to appoint senior DMK leader K Ponmudi as a minister in the state cabinet.
'In today's political spectrum, it is the Bharatiya Janata Party that always says, nation first.'
Replying to a question on reports of the BJP demanding 50 seats from the ruling AIADMK, Murugan said a statement on the continuation of the alliance was made by the party's top leaders O Panneerselvam and Edappadi K Palaniswami two days ago.
Just eight months after its good showing in the Lok Sabha polls, the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) seems to be running out of steam with internal bickering and conflicting ambitions resulting in diminishing electoral returns that have once again put the Bharatiya Janata Party in the driver's seat in national politics.
Kamal Haasan said that Mahendran the biggest example for the fact that democracy sometimes fails and accused that he had lied to take the faces of the people who gave him the identity.
After Shah said Hindi is the most spoken language which can unite the nation as a common language, Tamil Nadu parties rallied against it.
'My friend scored higher than me in the 12th exam, but he could not clear NEET because his parents could not pay the fees for private coaching.'
The All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam on Monday questioned Tamil Nadu Bharatiya Janata Party chief K Annamalai's intention to criticise the party despite being in the alliance, and said it will be forced to rethink its ties with the saffron party if Annamalai is not restrained.
This Ordinance was replaced by an Act later. However, the AIADMK government decided to repeal the law and an Ordinance for this was promulgated on May 18, 2004.
The Election Commission on Tuesday appointed special observers for administrative, security and expenditure monitoring purposes in several states to ensure a level playing field during the upcoming elections.
Is the unusually and unbearably scorching Sun and the general laxity, bordering on laziness, among voters, responsible, asks N Sathiya Moorthy.
Seeking to liken the proposed construction of the new edifice to the centuries old Great Wall of China, he claimed that 'thousands of people perished' during its construction, but the dragon nation rulers said the wall was to 'guard' the people.
The ministry of education is yet to take call on the recommendations by the empowered expert committee and the University Grants Commission.
These few and far between 'sops for votes' are the reason why the Jenu Kuruba community, which is fighting the government for decades for even the basic amenities -- like land rights, access to water and electricity -- bother to cast their votes, said J K Thimma, head of the settlement.
The governor has returned the bill, adopted by the state assembly in September 2021 and the report of a high level committee constituted by the Tamil Nadu government in this connection to the assembly Speaker M Appavu.
The Thalaivi trailer is effective, observes Moumita Bhattacharjee, who hopes there will be more to the film than just heroine worship.
© 2026 Rediff.com - Investor Information - Advertise with us - Disclaimer - Privacy Policy - Sitemap - Feedback - About us - Terms of use - Grievances